Exar: A Youth Wars Prequel
by Exar Sunrider
Summary: In this Youth Wars prequel, we go back years before the Jedi trio came to be. We follow Exar Sunrider in his later days in his older, brutal, anti-Resistance organization. He has all he wants: power, and friends; or so he thinks until his tables begin to turn. He will soon be longing for a true meaning for his life.
1. Chapter 1

Exar: A Youth Wars Story

Part 1: The Deserter

 _ **(This story is in two parts; the second part is in progress. I will not be uploading daily, as I have multiple books in the works right now.)**_

Chapter 1

The dripping of perspiration. The beating of his heartbeat. The scream of the crowd. The bruises on his skin. The drops of blood. The typical sensation of a brawl. Exar managed a smirk as he recovered. He lifted his head, and -as the opponent approached- flipped into the air. He twisted his body around, and gave his rival's head a heavy side-kick. He landed and swiftly spun around him, and pushed him into the stone wall, shoving him head-first into the brick.

The adversary fell, nearly passed out. Exar stepped away, then raised his arms, and faced all of the crowd as applaude erupted. The other Zabrak rose, slowly, and rubbed his head and stretched. He approached Exar and stuck his arm out. "Good match, Exar."

Exar faced him and clasped his forearm, " _Very_ good, Heceowa."

"I'll be victorious next match." Heceowa told him.

"Nah, you know I'm better than you."

"All it takes is more training. One of these days though, Exar."

Exar shrugged, then they picked up their capes and upper garments, and retreated back through the doors to fully recover.

Exar bandaged himself, after applying bacta to his wounds. He put his unifrom back on, then looked into the mirror, and observed himself. He laughed, then said to himself, "You're gonna hurt yourself one of these days."

...

He smiled again. "And you're gonna get in trouble if you keep trying to sneak up on me like that." Exar spoke loudly, turning his head to the side, eyeing the shadow in the corner.

The shadow rose and a human appeared. "What are you gonna do about it?" He teased with a grin.

"Something you _can't_ do." Exar replied.

"Yeah right." Ephraim said as they hugged.

"Oh, but one of these days. How'd the mission go?" Exar asked as they separated.

"Same result every time. Find the base, scare the soldiers, _destroy_ the base, chase _away_ the soldiers... after destorying every means by which they fight." Ephraim replied.

Exar paused for a second, then replied, "That sounds normal."

"Mhm. How'd the match go? And who'd you fight?"

"Do you _really_ need to know how I beat Heceowa?"

"Say no more. What's on the agenda?"

"Nothing new."

"Hitting the training deck?"

"Same ol', same ol'."

The leaders gathered into a mediocre, cave room, bringing together the council. Consisting of Zabraks Aren Mastigar, Tover Chelchu, and Ora Tao-ni; and humans Dara Tarask, and Jecht Woodle. They were all similar, but very different. Tough, headstrong, and smart: all attributes fit for leaders.

Aren Mastigar was the main head of the council; he ran everything that went on in their caves. He had only the horns on the back of his head -and parts of the horns on the front- due to an accident on one of his missions. Black and red tattoos, and only a few scars covered his body. He always wore, the same as everyone else, black robes.

Tover Chelchu was second-in-command; he was in charge of organization. He was Aren's right-hand-man. and occasionaly the leader when Aren was gone. He too had red and black tattoos, but unlike Aren, Tover had all horns and no scars; but had cybernetic fingers and right eye.

Ora Tao-ni was in charge of leading the students in meditation and in connecting with the force, learning new things every once in a while. Being one connected with the force more, she was always the calmest one, even in hard situations. Despite that, she was brutal when necessary. She had black and yellow tattoos, and all her horns.

Human Dara Tarask was the teacher of physical combat; she was the strongest physically, a toughie with muscles, but though she had immense strength with the force, she rarely uses it. She had dark, shoulder-length hair, and bright blue eyes that -some would say- might have been crafted by the force itself.

Jecht Woodle was in charge of all missions and the mission "simulator". He formed plans, and computes the possible outcomes of each mission. He had very short hair, which best fit his round face and dark eyes. He knew best who to send on any mission, and was proud of any decision he made; missions hardly ever came out wrong.

"Now that we're all here, we shall begin." Ora said.

"You've made us all curious." Jecht said to her.

"I'm aware. I have made a discovery in one of our students." Ora said.

"You don't say?" Tover asked sarcastically.

"Shortly after a session, I delved into the force, meditating, again. And this time, the force has shown me a trace of an element." Ora explained.

Aren remained still, stroking his chin, looking downward, while the others shared gazes.

"Do you happen to know which element?" Jecht asked.

" _Is_ it one of our current sudents? Or is it one we'll meet, soon, perhaps?" Dara wondered.

"It's Ephraim." Aren said, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Our most gifted pupil. I've always sensed something special in him, and I suspected as much as an elemental power. I meditated on the force, as well, and have also found a hint of it."

"You knew?" Tover asked.

"Of course he did." Dara reasoned.

"He _is_ the smartest of all students, he functions at a faster rate than all the others; and being as strong as he is, I dare say he's more than gifted." Jecht said.

"When are we going to tell him?" Dara asked.

"As soon as possible. He needs to immediately begin advanced training to unlock his special ability. I will leave it to Jecht and Ora."

"Already know what we need to do." Ora said.

"Very good. Council dismissed."

As everyone began leaving, Aren summoned Ora back. "We are to receive new additions soon. I had a vision, concerning people I had never seen before. I'm going to need you to do a little mind probe around them. I believe we will have all six of them soon."

"All six?" Ora whispered. "Is it time?" Ora asked, after assessing the context of his statement.

"It is. We will need to prepare."

"Why didn't you inform the others?"

"For all I know, this may just be a test; given the possible circumstances, I believe this information is best kept confidential."

"But don't you think that if we receive all six elementeers we'll need their help to properly help the students manifest their power?"

"I'll tell you what, sister, if we find them within our grip, we'll let everyone else know. That sound alright?"

Ora rolled her eyes while grinning. "You're the boss." She said playfully.

Exar and Ephraim trained hard in the gym, sparring, running, and lifting. Their gym, like most event rooms in their catacombs, was lit by fire. Two openings on either side of the gym, but no windows. Two torches surrounded each door, and a single strand of fire ran along the wall from torch to torch. The room was lit enough to look powered by electric lights, but the room temperature was something different entirely; the heat would be considered above average for outsiders, but was normal to the inhabitants.

Exar and Ephraim were finished exercising, then Exar decided to bring up a topic on his mind. "You know, besides today, we haven't really talked much. Not in a long time."

"I guess so." Ephraim replied as they exited the gym.

"We've been friends for as long as I can remember, and I think the lack of communication has been severing a bond we established." Exar continued as they entered a neighboring room.

"You know I'm a busy guy. I've been a hard worker, and have impressed our leaders. If I keep it up, I could fulfill my dreams of becoming probably one of the most powerful force-wielders the galaxy has ever known. And you know as well as I do, that that's not something anyone would like to pass up. My point is: I can't spend too much time doing other things other than become stronger."

"You can't let attachments get in the way of your destiny." Exar figured.

"I guess so." Ephraim said again. "Let's talk later."

Exar and Ephraim took turns refreshing themselves, showering, and cooling down. Once done, they met back outside and walked through the halls.

"I hope you understand my perspective."

"Yeah."

"Great things can't undermine more important things."

"I know attachments shouldn't get in the way, but _they_ can also make you stronger. If you know how to treat them properly, they help shape your fate."

"Also a considerable fact."

"Attachments go both ways. Together, we can get more done than we can apart. One man can't do the job of two." Exar told him.

"Only half the job." Ephraim replied.

Exar internally laughed. "A force-wielder, but not an elementeer."

"Ephraim!" Ora and Jecht shouted across the hall.

"Masters?" Ephraim acknowledged.

"Jecht and I need to have a word with you." Ora said.

Ephraim looked concerned. "What about?"

"It's confidential." Jecht answered.

"Ah." Ephraim's eyebrows raised.

"I'll catch ya later." Exar said, waving him off. Ephraim disappeared into the distance, and Exar stood there thinking to himself. _'Aaaaand what do I do now?'_

 _-Meanwhile, Somewhere in the Outer Rim-_

Two Zabraks dashed stealthily through the grass under the night sky.

"Where were the coordinates of those signals?" One asked.

"Just up ahead. Wait! Northwest, now!" The other replied as they leaned another direction and resumed running. They shortly came across a Resistance base; they laid down in the grass and observed. "Keep an eye out. I'm transmitting the coordinates to base."

Exar finished up eating a meal, and remained sat at the table. Heceowa joined him shortly. "What's up?" Exar asked monotonically.

"I gotta know. What's your secret?"

"Eh?"

"How do you win each time? It seems like no matter how hard I train-"

"When are you going to figure out that it isn't just brawn that gets you through a fight?"

"There can be ways to go around it. That force-stuff kinda creeps me out, and I'd prefer to distance myself from it."

"One of these days, you'll change your mind."

"The day my life hangs on the line will be the day I consider."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Exar asked, chuckling.

"If we're taken captive, if we're invaded." Heceowa pointed out.

"We are safe here. Invasion is unlikely." Exar told him.

All students were attending Ora's force class. Exar looked around, but didn't spot Ephraim anywhere. He, as well as all other students, sat in connection with the force. It had been a while since any student had received a vision during this time, but that was going to change.

Exar knew Ephraim's absence meant something was up, and he knew it was definitely something force-related; he focused on that, and was not disappointed.

He found himself back in the catacomb hallways, but they were all empty. Not a sound was heard, and all lights were still; no flickering and no popping. He saw torches along the wall, but the fire wasn't moving. He approached one of them, and hesitantly reached out, but the still fire didn't scorch his hand. He pulled it back and stared, amazed.

"What is this?" He asked aloud, hoping for a response, but all he heard was the echo.

He turned away from the torch and faced the cave, but saw something different. Something horrifying. All of a sudden, several dead bodies were strewn about. All familiar faces. He screamed and stumbled back. He regained himself, still weak in his knees, but started trudging through the mess. He looked around at all the bodies, starting to panic.

"What happened?"

He stopped in his tracks once he saw Heceowa. He knelt down in front of him, and sensed no life in him.

"He doesn't deserve this." He looked around. "None of them do."

He got up and continued to reach the end. He then felt that he stepped in a puddle. He looked down, and saw the pile of blood. He screamed, and tripped. Looking intensely at the puddle, he noticed a reflection forming. He looked into it more, but didn't see himself. Just a black shadow. The shadow started moving away, until it was 'far away.' Exar frowned slightly, growing curious, but still scared. Then it disappeared.

Then he noticed something happening to the lighting in the distance. The lights were going out. All the torches were going out, row-by-row. Soon, they were all put out, and he saw only blackness. Then a single torch lit up in the middle, but Exar noticed he wasn't in the same place. He then saw a collected puff of black smoke next to the torch. He stared at the strange, lively gas in front of him...

...

Then it clicked to him.

He awoke suddenly, on his back. Students were gathered around him, and Ora standing above them.

"What happened?" Ora asked.

"A..." He thought about it for a second. "I think it was the future."

"A vision?"

"Uh, I- it." He simply gave up.

Ora sensed distress and fear in Exar. "Come with me." She ordered.

Exar shakily stood, and followed along.

Exar sat down on a mat; Ora sat in front of him. Exar was slumped, his back and neck bending; he kept his gaze downwad, and he was shaking. Ora could tell he was afraid. "Tell me what it was you saw."

"It was all death." He replied with a raspy tone. " _Everyone_ , was gone."

"Then we must work harder to try to prevent it from happening."

"How can you prevent the future?"

"It might have been the future, or it might have been a warning."

"Either way... It could still most likely happen."

"Soon, we will change things. We will double our efforts to diminish the Resistance once and for all. The Republic and The First Order will have no one to fight their battles."

"But... the First Order will still have theirs."

"Times like these we start letting the others know of our plans." Ora sighed. "With the Resistance gone, the First Order army will have no reason to fight; they'll be relieved of duty, _then_ we'll hunt _them_ down."

Then an alarm rang through the halls.

"Speak of the force. You better get going." Ora said.

"Alright."

The mission team gathered around the hologram tables; Jecht joined them when he was done assessing the plan. "Two of ours reported the sighting of a Resistance camp on Talus. It's a medium base; minimum soldiers. It will only require a few soldiers. I'll be assigning Exar, Ephraim, Heceowa, and Heceowa will choose some partners of his own to accompany him."

"Why does Heceowa get to choose others?" Exar asked.

"Because you and Ephraim are good enough on your own, and don't need extra help." Jecht said.

"Ouch. Don't let him hear you say that."

"He's not here yet. You're being sent ahead of time; like I said, you guys are good enough on your own, and he'll need some time to choose his teammates."

"Seems like we're in no rush." Ephraim said.

"Not too much. Take your shuttle. But first..." Jecht signalled the rest away, then gestured Exar and Ephraim towards him. "The council has noticed your intelligent strategies, as well as _advancement_ of your intelligence, _and_ strategies. To sum it up, you are going to receive honorary titles. Codenames, or something."

"Well." Ephraim faltered. "We are honored, but, how do we choose?"

"You don't. _I_ do. Exar. Your ferociousness and remarkable brutality has earned you the title, 'Mirtis.' It means 'death.' "

"Thank you, sir." Exar said, bowing his head.

"Ephraim. In the galaxy, we are considered disgusting lowlifes, not just by the Republic. We are _proud_ of who we are; if we are lowlifes, then so be it. 'Erk' shall be your title. It isn't a title smiled upon by most, but if we're the opposite of what the galaxy wants, then take it with pride."

"I will. Thank you sir." Ephraim replied.

"Then get to it. Don't leave everyone waiting." Jecht ordered.

"Let's kick their butts." Ephraim said, cracking his knuckles.

"Let's break their butts. And more." Exar added as they were on their way.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dara Tarask was pacing around her training room, observing the combat skills of her students. They all had excellent forms, though some were weaker than others. She was proud of most sudents, but some were lacking in most areas.

She moved over to a group of friends who were particularly low on skill, but not too low. A little clumsy, but not unacceptable. They were aparring with each other, but were trying too hard. As they swiped at each other, they spun themselves around and knocked themselves off balance.

"Sloppy." Dara said. "You're not trying hard enough."

"We're trying as hard as we can!" One of them complained.

"You're focusing all your strength in your fists; you're supposed to use the force to help channel all your might from your shoulder, through your arm, and to your hand. It'll exert more force. Heceowa, get your friends in shape." Dara said.

"I've been trying." Heceowa told her.

Dara sighed. "You need to seize this essential; you're supposed to leave to join Exar and Ephraim on their mission soon."

"What _is_ their mission?"

The two shadowy figures dashed through the fields to arrive upon the base. They spotted it and began forming their plan.

"This place is locked and loaded. What are we doing until Heceowa gets here?" Exar asked quietly.

"We take out the big guns." Ephraim said, jumping down to the base.

" _Wait! What are the big guns_?" Exar loudly whispered.

Ephraim jumped down into the middle of the base, startling the Resistance troops; he jumped again up to the cannons on top of the base, before he was fired at.

Exar jumped down behind the troops; he grabbed the back of one of their heads, delivered a hard punch to his face -knocking him out-, and threw him into the pack.

"We're surrounded!"

"Keep at it!"

Exar kept discarding the soldiers until the squad was no more. Ephraim worked on disabling the guns over the base.

Several more soldiers approached Exar and surrounded him. "Put your hands in the air, now!" Ephraim knew what to do, and ducked.

Exar grinned, then slowly raised his hands; the officers went over and cuffed him. "Intruder is apprehended." The soldier commed the base.

Then one of the giant guns on the base was then thrown down into the crowd, crushing many troopers. Exar jumped and pulled his hands from behind himself, then ran and kicked other soldeirs down; he choked one to death with his cuffs. He picked up a pair of keys and used the force to easily unlock himself.

Ephraim jumped down and joined him. "I took care of the guns up top. Take care of the rest inside; I'll keep a lookout." Ephraim said before taking off, but he didn't leave without noticing the green mist eminating from his fingertips.

"This is Resistance Base number 032. We are under attack. Repeat, we are under-" The door to the command center opened, then Exar stepped in.

"Hello boys." Exar said smugly. The Resistance soldiers raised their weapons at him. "I'll give you a chance. Drop your weapons and surrender, or die horrifically." He ended with an expression that read, _'I don't give a crap what happens.'_

The Resistance soldiers seemed unphased, and pulled their triggers; no blast emitted. Then they started fearing as they kept trying, but still nothing happened. Exar had his eyes closed, and his hand -which wasn't being used- was wide open; he was using the force to clog their blasters.

The Resistance soldiers tried retreating to other rooms of the compound to call for backup, but Exar used the force to close the doors before the soldiers could reach them. Exar stepped towards them to slaughter them; the Resistance soldiers tried their blasters again, and were successful. But as they shot, Exar ignited both sides of his double-bladed blue lightsaber and deflected the bolts back at them.

They were all hit, and they stumbled to the ground. A few made it up; the others were dead. Exar reached them quickly and cut them down. One on the ground was aparently still alive. Exar approached him and raised his blade; the soldier was backing up as best as he could.

Exar then saw the look of pure fear and horror on the soldier's face, and hesitated. He didn't let go of his tough face; he thought he had to keep the intimidating factor up. The soldier's terified face seemed to disappear as he reached for his blaster swiftly and shot at Exar. Exar's instincts made him deflect the blast back to the soldier.

Exar remained standing in the empty room for a moment as the battle continued outside. He heard the explosions and battle cries, yet still he remained. He hadn't truly experienced being feared until this moment. He loved being friends and having friends; he enjoyed having people who loved being around him; he didn't consider that his actions in the field would put out a sense of fear in the galaxy.

 _'Are we... bad guys?'_ He asked himself.

He had been told that he was fighting the bad guys, but never thought about it. They were fighting the Resistance, but what were _they_ resisting? The Resistance does what they think is right, and they were against the First Order. There must have been something bad in the first place in order for there to be something to resist.

They fought the First Order, and he was fighting the Resistance. It seemed like he and the First Order were on the same side. And what he was doing was inducing fear and terror. All of a sudden, Exar began having second thoughts.

 _'_ _ **Are**_ _we the bad guys?'_

"Exar! You done in there?" Exar heard Erk shout as he entered the room.

"Uh, yeah. I am."

"Well our ride's here, and I rigged the charges. Come on!"

They ran out and boarded their auto-pilot pickup ship, and flew out of range. Once out of range, Erk activated the detonator, and the entire base exploded, and Exar watched as that happened, and it provoked his thoughts even more.

"Exar? What's up?" Erk asked as he deactivated auto-pilot and started flying the ship.

"Oh, no-"

"Don't say 'nothing.' " Erk commanded.

Exar quietly grunted, then said, "It's not important."

"Well if it's bothering you as much as I sense it is, then it's worth discussing."

"I've uh, I've... been having second thoughts."

Erk was quiet for a second. "What about?"

"Our way of life."

Aren sensed a disturbance in the force, and it caused a disturbance within him.

"Does he want... to betray us?" He asked himself.

"Aren!" Jecht called his attention. "Our hackers intercepted Resistance picture from a secret camera."

"What kind of picture?" Aren asked as he took it.

"Enough that they can put out a warrant."

Sure enough, it was. They had a crystal clear picture of Exar striking down Resistance soldiers.

"Did you stop this from being sent?" Aren asked.

"I'm afraid not." Jecht replied.

 _'We know what we have to do then.'_ Aren thought. "Get everyone together." He commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

Aren had the leaders gathered, and tried making his point clear and short before the attack team arrived back at the base. "We may be entering hard times soon. We have found out that the Resistance is able to identify attackers. More specifically: us. We've gone a long while without being reported, and we don't want that cycle to break."

"What do you suggest we do?" Ora asked.

"We need to find wherever it is they receive those images, and blow it to pieces."

"Are we going to send our attack team? They'll need time to recover." Dara said.

"No. We will restrain from attacking until all is clear. Then we will make our move. They may see it coming, but they're still no match for me."

"I get your point. I do. It's, thought-provoking. But Exar, you're crazy if you think you could escape under Aren's watch."

"I know." Exar said, pausing for a dramatic moment. "But he won't always be there."

Ephraim thought about that for a split second. _'Ooooh kriff no!'_

"Exar, that's bat-dung crazy!"

"Aren never passes up the opportunity to undo compromise."

"What. . . Compromise?"

"He'll do anything to keep our life a secret."

"What did you do?"

"I used one of our cameras to send an image of me in the base."

" _ **What**_?!"

"They'll be on the lookout for me, maybe the most powerful student. Then, Aren won't let us go out. He'll take out the base so the Resistance has no clue about us. When Aren's gone, I'll make my move."

Ephraim was silent again. "Not to put your spirit down, but. . . I think I might be the most powerful." Ephraim bit his cheek, knowing how cheesy that sounded.

Exar knew he wasn't bragging, so he asked, "Why's that?"

"I wasn't supposed to tell you; but I thought I should now, in case you do leave. . . Or in any other case: _**die**_. I had a meeting with a couple of the leaders, and, they, told me I'm. . . an elementeer."

"An elementeer?" Exar stressed the term.

"Yeah." Ephraim answered quietly.

. . . "Dang! Uh, do. . . you know which element?"

"Not yet."

A droid approached his Resistance commander with a report.

"Sir. I have received a transmission from a base in the Outer Rim."

"Bring it up." The commander said nonchalantly.

The droid plugged into a computer, and the commander looked at a screen. He saw the orange Zabrak cutting down a soldier.

"I know those blades. It seems we have a rogue force-sensitive." The commander said. He turned to the droid and said, "You know your job then, droid?"

"Yes, sir."

"But, _wait on my word_!"

"Yes sir." Then the droid went off; the commander kept his eye on it.

A Resistance captain approached him and said, "You ought to put more trust in that droid. He's thousands of years old, so he's not as capable as he used to be."

"I can't help it, captain. Do _you_ know much about HK-47's?"

"I do, but like I said-"

"I understand."

"Very good. As you were."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Exar and Ephraim flew back into the hidden docking bay, quite nervous for the events to come.

Ephraim took a deep breath, then asked Exar, "So... what now?"

"Right now, we conform to the status quo. My plan will work, so don't worry about it."

"Alright." Ephraim replied, lowering the ramp. They exited the ship and met Jecht front and center.

"I'd normally assume the mission was a success, but the apparent uneasiness on your faces is beckoning me to question otherwise." Jecht said.

"Well, there may have been a slight setback, but we got it all covered." Exar said.

"Mhm, let's go on to make your report." Jecht said as he gestured them elsewhere.

Aren had the leaked image pulled up on a hologram, and showed it to the two once Exar's report was completed. "We received this image through a Resistance radio transmission. Who does that look like?" He asked sternly as he glared at Exar.

"Calm down, Aren. We know who it is, and it isn't a big deal. Exar is one of our most powerful students; he can overcome Resistance forces."

"What's going to happen with this?" Ephraim asked about the photo.

"We may be too late in making sure the Resistance never receives this, but we can still prevent them from releasing it."

"They always wait days, even weeks, before they release photos from attacks like this." Jecht said.

"Exactly." Aren said.

Exar and Ephraim shared a glance; Exar could feel Aren glaring at him again.

"You're the one in charge of missions. When should we strike?" Aren then asked Jecht.

"We're expecting new arrivals soon. Once they get settled, we'll make our move." Jecht replied.

"Good. Inform the others." Aren commanded.

Jecht nodded, then headed out the door. Ora then entered the room. "Ephraim, it's time. Come on."

"Ora, we're going on a mission soon. Be prepared." Aren said.

"Okay." She said simply as she guided Ephraim out into the hallway; Exar loosely followed. "What was that?" She asked Jecht, who hung around the hallway.

"An image of Exar in an attack was leaked to the Resistance. We have to destroy the base before they share the image publicly."

Exar stopped in his tracks and listened until they were out of earshot, then he entered his room.

Heceowa's group returned late from the mission. They were unharmed, but the same couldn't be said for their ships. They quickly powered down and exited their ships. Jecht arrived back in the docking bay a few late moments later.

"We took care of everything else. There are no remains of the Resistance base."

"Good to hear." Jecht said. _'Best news I've heard all day.'_

Heceowa's report was completed, Ephraim was training, Exar was meditating; just another typical day for them, only with a small twist.

When the day ended, and everyone else was off to sleep, the leaders gathered in their secret cave room to formulate their plan.

Jecht pulled up a hologram of the Resistance base and enlarged it so it could be thoroughly seen by everyone from every angle.

"This base ain't like a holocron vault; it's not too heavily guarded. It'll be easy to get in, take everyone out, rig a charge and leave." Jecht summarized.

"There's a 'but' isn't there?" Dara asked.

"Unfortunately, all that will be the least of our worries. According to a spy report, we have reason to believe the Resistance has acquired an HK-47 droid to assist their work."

"That's a snag." Tover said.

"Ora and Dara will deal with him; I'll assist when my job is done." Aren said.

"Tover and I will secure the area and keep reinforcements away." Jecht said.

"Dara and I will go in and take care of everything inside. They will probably have called reinforcements by the time we're done. We'll need time to get away before the explosion. If they're smart, they'll immediately dispatch the droid. Ora and everyone else will hold it off. I will get to the ship and blow it to bits. Then we'll make our escape." Aren said.

"Normally I'd complain, but the craziest plans are ususally the only ones that work." Dara replied.

"Correct. We all know what we're doing?" Aren asked.

"Yes, sir." They all replied.

"Good. May the force be with us. We depart in two days; we will have time to fully prepare."

 _The Next Day_

The small organization had prepared for their day, but had all been summoned to the docking bay to welcome the new arrivals.

Aren and Ora looked on with hope for the new possible elementeers.

"Today, the fulfillment begins." Aren mumbled.

The doors then began to open. It seemed like either it took forever for them to open, or they were too rusted to open quickly.

One moment or another, they opened, and the carrier transport entered the bay. Everyone started clapping for the new arrivals until the ship landed.

Aren and the other leaders approached the ship; the door opened, and the exhaust steam let out.

Two figures stepped out and stopped in front of the leaders.

"I am Aren Mastigar; I am the leader of this organization and overseer of everyone's daily lives. Who are you two?" He asked calmly. _**'Why are there two?! There are supposed to be three!'**_

"I am Kaiyah Lomax; this is my friend-" Kaiyah gestured to the other one.

"Becky Feara." They both took a brief bow.

"We, uh, we don't do that here." Aren said, easing them.

Ora kneeled down to look at them in the eye. "I am Ora Tao-ni. I am the overseer of our students' force training. I sense a strong bond between you two. Your training here will strengthen your bond and open your mind to possibilities you never knew were there." Ora said, shaking their hands.

"Sounds good. Though I myself have seen a thing or two." Becky said.

"Oh, I like you." Ora said, making Becky chuckle slightly.

Jecht imposed and said, "Jecht Woodle. I handle all the missions and the plans." He shook their hands.

"That's right. It's becasue of his brains and strategies that we've survived this long. And this won't be changing anytime soon."

"You'll never know." Becky said, making Kaiyah laugh.

"My friend, Becky is one of the most experienced people you will have ever met. Just have her tell you her stories, and you'll understand." Kaiyah said.

"Now don't exclude youself." Becky told Kaiyah. "She has plenty of stories to tell, herself." She told the leaders, pointing to Kaiyah.

"I don't doubt it." Tover said. "I am Tover Chelchu. I am Aren's second-in-command. Whenever he's not around, I'm the one that sees everything."

"Even the future?" Becky asked with a raised eyebrow.

. . .

"Um... Well no one can see the future. Easily, that is. But no, Aren and I see what's happening presently."

"Again, you'll never know. For all you know, what you see is all the front. There could always be something much deeper going on than what meets the eye." Becky said.

. . .

"I see why she's your friend." Ora told Kaiyah, making her laugh again.

"And last but not least, I," Dara stepped forward, "Am Dara Tarask. I am the physical trainer of all the students, so one day they'll end up like strong beef cakes like me." She teased, flexing a muscle.

"Hmm." Becky hummed.

"That'll definitely be useful." Kaiyah said.

Aren then turned around and said to all the students. " _ **Everyone**_! _**Give a hand to 'Kaiyah Lomax,' and 'Becky Feara.**_ ' _**Even though they each already have two**_." Everyone laughed, then cheered. Once the cheering died down, Aren guided the newcomers to Ephraim and Exar.

"These are our two strongest students. Exar," Aren gestured to Exar. "And Ephraim." He gestured to Ephraim. "They can fill you in on what goes on here. Once you get settled, your training will begin." Then the leaders and other students scrambled elsewhere.

"I am Ephraim."

"And I am Exar."

"Becky."

"Kaiyah."

"Word on the street is you're the most gifted student here." Kaiyah said to Ephraim.

"One of, at least. I'm no master or anything."

"So, tell me a little about yourself."

"Other than what you already know. . . Well, I like music; I know of all kinds. I do a little listening in my spare time. Other than that, I just study to become the best of what I can be."

"Hm. I'm impressed." Kaiyah hummed.

"What about you?"

"Well, I'm kinda the same. The reason I was brought here was because it was believed that I have the potential to become, what they call, an elementeer."

 _'Woah! Another?'_ Ephraim exclaimed to himself.

"I too am into music." Exar said to Becky. "I am kinda like Ephraim, only. . ." Exar shrugged, "Like, his, runnerup. I guess. So, how long have you and Kaiyah known each other?"

"A pretty long time; we're like sisters."

"Ah. I feel like a brother to Ephraim; I've known him almost my whole life. Though he doesn't let me in on anything personal in his life. I thought this was the kind of stuff close friends were supposed to share. We have our good times, though. Those are good times. You might like him."

"I see. Well, it seems like Kaiyah has already taken a shining to him." Becky averted her gaze to Kaiyah and Ephraim.

"-what they call, an elementeer."

"Yeah, I'm an elementeer too." Becky added.

 _'What the?!'_ Exar and Ephraim thought.

"Lucky. I'm not an elementeer; I wonder what it feels like, knowing you have a special gift to share." Exar said.

"You'll find out your thing soon enough." Ephraim condoled.

"I hope so." Exar said.

"Well, do we have places to stay?" Kaiyah asked.

"Uh, yes. Just follow me." Ephraim said, guiding Kaiyah along through the cave halls.

Exar and Becky shared a quick glance, then Exar said, "I think I ship them already."

"Me too." Becky said as they followed Ephraim.

As Becky and Kaiyah were getting settled, Exar and Ephraim went off to train more. They started out lifting big, heavy weights.

"So those new recruits are something aren't they? They just come in, and the next moment, you find out that they could be the best people to come into your life." Exar said.

"Yeah. Too bad you're leaving soon. They're probably going to wish you had stayed." Ephraim pointed out. "I can tell they already think you're a great guy. It'd be a shame for you to leave this soon."

Exar lowered the weights as that thought struck his mind. "Well... You know I have to. This life is not a good influence on a decent life. We're murdering the people who I think are trying to protect this galaxy. We're killing them in cold blood. Isn't that thought-provoking?"

"It is, but for you to leave just like that after we get new recruits is also thought-provoking. Can you think about how that feels?"

"I can, yes. But you know it's for the greater good. I will see you guys again."

"It will be hard without you." Ephraim said.

"I've still yet to receive an answer on 'how?' "

"Sometimes you don't need an answer, you just need to believe it."

"You know, I did sense an unusually strong bond forming between you and uh, Kaiyah. If you need any advice or anything, I could give you some. You know, before I go."

"That won't be necessary. If I need advice, I'll go to someone a little more experienced in relationships."

"Oh so you think I'm _inexperienced_? You think you know _everything_ about me?"

"Well, no, I-"

"Did it ever occur to you why I want to help? It's just for the sake of being a good friend. When you reject it, I feel like I'm failing at it. I want to help you through what _I_ couldn't help _myself_ through."

"It's just better to get someone who knows how to deal with this sort of thing."

"Did you hear a _**word**_ I just said? After I get a lot of time to think about what went wrong, I always think of how to make it better. Whether you believe it or not, _I can help you_."

. . .

"From a certain point of view, this conversation was taken a _bit_ out of context." Ephraim noted.

"Yeah. But still, think about it. Ya know? I don't have that much time left here; I want to make the most of it."

Ephraim simply nodded, and they continued their exercises.

"So, tell me about Kaiyah. What have you found out?"

"Well, she has a great sense of humor, she has a family of many sisters and one brother -like mine- and overall, _very_ easy to relate to; she has many common interests."

"Interesting. Becky too has a great sense of humor, and also has common interests; she's kinda quiet most of the time, which makes for some very awkward moments; she's so far the only child; her mother is expecting at the moment. That's all I was told."

"Sounds like we could make a great team if put together." Ephraim said.

"I don't think I'll be able to go on any more missions before I go. Did you notice the looks Aren was giving me?"

"I did; I had to quickly avert my gaze before he caught mine."

"Yeah, he's a toughie."

. . .

"What do you think he's gonna do to that base?"

"Same thing as usual."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Please tell us a little more about yourselves. Any fighting skills?" Aren asked Becky and Kaiyah.

"Oh yes. We're both very efficient in physical combat, and with the force." Kaiyah answered.

"How experienced would you say?" Aren inquired.

"Very experienced, I guess." Kaiyah replied.

"Mhm. If you were sent on a mission to, destroy a mediocrely-guarded Resistance base. . . how do you think you could handle that?"

"Piece of cake. We were kinda smugglers, bounty hunters before we came here."

"What of your families?"

"We keep in contact. Our other life was how we earned our family a living. On that note, how long will I be here?"

Aren didn't know that their families' livings were at risk, and suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Well, the thing is. This is typically the home of those who come and stay here. But with that new information, I can arrange a compromise for your families' sakes."

"Oh..."

"This could've almost been screwed up." Becky interrupted.

"Well, thank you for considering. Curious: why did you ask about the base?"

"We've recently received a notification of a moderate Resistance base in the Mid-Rim, and we need people to go after it. Ephraim can't go alone."

"Oh. This soon?"

"Yes, unless you think you're unprepared?" Aren suggested.

"Well, shouldn't there be a test or something?"

"Indeed. Masters Ora and Dara are just outside; they'll accompany you in the training test." Aren gestured to the door. They got up to leave, then Aren said, "Wait. . . You, Becky. What do you say? Are you on board?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. You may proceed."

Tover entered the room after the others left. "How are we going to keep Exar away? He loves going on missions; especially with Ephraim."

"We give him one thing he's always wanted." Aren replied blankly.

". . . Oh! Is he ready?"

"Definitely. And, I think he means to desert us. If we give him the promotion, he'll want to stay."

"He. . . How long have you known?"

"Since shortly before he came back from his last mission."

"Were you going to do anything about it?"

"I think I just did." Aren replied. "If his thoughts persist, then he may have to be punished."

"Maybe we're not trying hard enough." Tover suggested.

"We're doing all we can. What else can we do?"

Tover simply nodded in understanding.

Exar joined Ephraim as they stood by and watched Ora and Dara train Becky and Kaiyah. "Anything interesting happen so far?" Exar asked.

"They've just proven to be very strong physically, and their deep force connection has also proven them to be very formidable opponents."

"I missed it all didn't I?" Exar deadpanned.

"Not really. Master Jecht hasn't taken them to the mission simulator yet. Then again, there's really nothing to see there except the results when they come out. So you might've kinda missed everything."

Tover entered the training room and stood by the two. "Exar, I need you to come with me."

"Um... ok." He followed Tover outside; before he left, he turned to Ephraim and mouthed the words 'fill me in later.' Ephraim nodded.

Once no one was around, Exar asked, "What is it?"

"I know you know of Ephraim's little secret, and I think it's a little unfair that you don't get a little something too; as you are the next top student."

"I'm not an elementeer though." Exar pointed out.

"No, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left for you."

"What _is_ there?" Exar asked, becoming excitedly suspicious.

"Aren and I have decided to promote you. You're going to be a library guard."

Exar was nearly overtaken by shock and happiness, though shock was only apparent on his face.

-This may not make sense to you; you might question how being a library guard is a higher rank than being one who goes on missions to perform tasks for his home. The library guards are the highly trained professionals who guard the sacred documents that are scarcely known throughout the galaxy. It is a big deal to protect the important documents and secrets held within; being a trained guard, you can prevent any intruders from stealing the knowledge-

 _'Well I guess I'll be seeing less of them anyway.'_ Exar figured out. "When do I start?"

"At the end of the day, you will be personally transported to Dathomir II and you will be given a shift schedule, a uniform, and your guard weapon of choice."

Exar smiled, then said, "Thank you sir."

Tover smiled back. "Be prepared to depart by then."

Exar, Ephraim, Becky, and Kaiyah crossed each other in a break room.

"What's up guys? How'd it go?" Exar asked, referring to the mission simulator.

"We passed the tests; we'll be able to go on missions very soon." Kaiyah replied.

"She's really hyped for this." Becky said.

"Well congratulations. It's rare we get gifted students out in the field this soon after they arrive." Ephraim said.

"I think you guys will get your codenames sooner than we did." Exar joked.

"That would be cool." Ephraim agreed, nodding his head. "But there are requirements to get those."

"What are your guys' code names?" Becky asked.

"Mine is 'Erk.' That typically means, like, a despised person. We are despised by the Republic, and we are proud of who we are; so I stand by the name." Ephraim answered.

"Mine is 'Mirtis.' It is an alternate term for 'death.' " Exar replied.

"Wow! I wonder what kind of names we'll get." Kaiyah replied, a little surprised by the name choices. "I guess we'll find out in the future."

Exar remembered his horrifying vision of the possible future from days before, but was brought from his thoughts when Ephraim started another topic.

"I have taken the first step in reaching my elemental power." He blurted.

"You're an elementeer too?" Kaiyah asked, shocked even more.

"Yeah. I told Exar, so i figured you guys could know."

"So we have three elementeers in the room right now?" Becky asked seriously.

"Is that. . . something important?" Ephraim asked.

"Kinda. You should look into it when you can." Becky told him.

"I would, but I'm not allowed access to the library yet."

"Oh! I was just promoted to a library guard today." Exar piped up.

Ephraim's expression darkened slightly, and he looked at Exar. "You. . . what?"

"I uh, think you-"

"Exar, a moment?" Ephraim gestured Exar away from the group. "Think about this." He whispered, "You know how Aren is. This could be a plan to keep you from leaving."

"How would he know?" Exar whispered back.

"Like I said, 'you know how Aren is.' Also, I've done more than you; according to the rules, if anything, I'd have been promoted first." Ephraim replied somewhat sarcastically.

"You do bring a good point." Exar replied. "I'll go along with it; I'll see if I can learn about elementeers, and I'll let you know then, _somehow_. Then when the time is right, I'll make my move to escape."

Ephraim let out a sad sigh. "That's a plan alright." He mumbled. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Ditto."

"What was that about?" Kaiyah asked as they got back to the group.

"Just going over some sorta-illogical decisions that have been made." Ephraim replied.

"Um. . . Ok."

"So do any of you guys know what your elements are yet?" Exar asked the two girls.

"Not yet. We hope to find out soon." Kaiyah answered.

"It must be awesome, you know. To be 'elementeers.' You guys get to do more with the power you have, and I'm just left here with none of that." Exar said.

"Everyone has something; you need to find yours." Becky told him.

"Now if that was true, the Galactic Civil War of the Old Republic would've been an entirely different story. Heck, everything we _know_ would've been a different story."

"I don't mean specially-enhanced force abilities. Everyone has something to contribute to become better than they were. You just need to find something special about yourself which you can contribute to make you stand out."

. . .

Exar couldn't find the words.

"You might have to get used to that." Kaiyah said.

"Mhm." Exar hummed. "Hey, do you guys have battle armor?"

"We do. You wanna see them?" Kaiyah asked.

"Sure." Ephraim replied.

Becky and Kaiyah brought their armor sets in cases and presented them. They opened the cases, and they saw the sets of armor inside.

 _ **(See 'Chapter 4 Picture 1' Now)**_

"Those are impressive pieces." Ephraim complemented.

"Thanks." Kaiyah said.

"Mandalorian? That's interesting." Exar said.

"Very interesting story behind that." Becky said.

"I don't doubt it. You guys seem like you've had quite the adventures." Exar said.

"You wouldn't believe it."

"Again, I wouldn't doubt it."

Exar refreshed himself in preparation for his departure. In the hours he and Ephraim spent hanging out with the new recruits, he had to act like he had no plan to leave. It hurt him inside that he knew he had to abandon his home, shortly after he made good new friends. All they knew was that he was promoted to library guard, where he'd be there most of the day; they'd see him at nighttimes. They were to soon find out that he will have deserted them.

What they might think about him then crossed his mind. They had befriended him, and he was just going to leave them right after. He wanted to go through with it less than he did before, but still felt strongly that he needed to; it was for his greater good. He needed to find a real life; after his pondering, he knew there was more to his life than murdering Resistance soldiers.

He had figured out that his current life was not about killing; he didn't know then what his calling was. He intended to figure out, and his leaving his home for good was going to be the first step in that journey.

He headed to the docking bay, where many of the soldiers had gathered to congratulate him on his promotion. He met Tover right beside the carrier shuttle, where they shook hands.

"Good luck, Exar. May the force be with you." Tover said.

"Thank you." Exar replied. He then turned around and looked at Ephraim, Kaiyah, and Becky. He approached them and hugged Ephraim. "I'm gonna miss you." He whispered.

Ephraim knew what he meant, then knew that the time was drawing near. "You too." And hugged him tighter.

Exar went and fist bumped Becky and Kaiyah. "I'll see you soon." He said. _'Why did I say that?! I'm probably not going to see any of them for a long time. Maybe ever. Now I feel guilty.'_

"You too." They both replied.

"As I go, I will be thinking of all of you." Exar proclaimed to the room. While it flew by most of their heads, Ephraim knew what he really meant. And quite possibly Aren.

Tover guided Exar and his bodyguard onto the shuttle, where Exar would soo lift off. Everyone applauded as his ship left and entered hyperspace.

Everyone was happy for Exar's promotion to Dathomir II; Exar was dreadful, for it was the last time he would ever be in those caves with all his friends.

He didn't deny the few tears that streamed down his face.

He stared out the window from the co-pilot's seat, watching the stars whizzing behind him. He listened to the booms that the ship made due to speed.

He closed his eyes and meditated for a brief moment. He let the force flow through him, and it calmed him down. Once he was calm, he remained in his deep, meditative state. As he delved deeper into the force, he suddenly felt a connection, only not with anyone in particular. He didn't know what he connected with until he found himself surrounded.

 _'Did I... connect with the stars?'_

Exar tried learning more about it, but was pulled from his vision when the ship stopped, and the guard shook him awake.

"You're here, kid." The guard said. Exar beheld Dathomir II.

The ship went down to the orange atomosphere, and Exar witnessed the beauty of the planet. Multi-colored plains and rocks, beautiful skylines. He saw the suns' reflections off some rocks, making them shine like crystals.

"It's beautiful." Exar gasped, in complete awe. "Honestly, there's something familiar about this place."

"All Zabrak soldiers were born here, but raised on Tatooine." The guard said.

"Huh." Exar sighed, hypnotized by the view.

The ship landed on the platform, and Exar finally diverted his view of the tableland, and saw the castle-like structure at the other end of the platform.

Exar and the guard stepped out and were greeted by the current wave of elite guards.

"State your business." The leader said.

The guard handed the chief a datapad and replied, "Promotion. By the order of Aren Mastigar and Tover Celchu, Exar Sunrider here will be your new addition."

The chief guard smiled and laughed a little. He handed the datapad back to the bodyguard and looked at Exar. "Welcome to the team, Sunrider. Come with us." He said.

Exar followed the group as the bodyguard boarded his ship and left.

"Just right inside, to the right." The chief said as they entered the building. They went right and entered a break room. The chief opened the closet in the room, where there were spare guard uniforms. "What size?" He asked.

"Uh, 'Large.' " Exar replied.

The chief got a size-matching uniform and handed it to Exar. Exar took the hangar and looked at the uniform in whole.

 _ **(See 'Chapter 4 Picture 2' Now)**_

"This looks sweet." Exar said.

"It is, and it's unbelievably comfortable. Now, here's your shift schedule." Exar was handed a datapad. "If you'll look into the chest in the closet, there are weapons you can choose. I have other business to attend to at the moment; if you need anything else, I'll be Tobian Celchu."

"Celchu?! No way!" Exar exclaimed, making Tobian laugh. As Tobain started leaving, Exar called after him, "Wait wait! Hold up! Nuh-uh! You can't drop a bomb like that and leave. I wanna know more!"

Tobian just kept laughing. He shrugged, then said, "I got stuff to do. Your tour guide will be here shortly to show you around. Believe me, this place is _way_ bigger than it looks." Then he left; Exar remained jaw-dropped. _'I had no kriffing idea Tover had a brother!'_

At the end of the tour, Exar ended up at the library. He looked up above the big door and saw a flat crystal circle. "What's that?" He asked.

"That crystal circle is what allows this door to open. The energy that flows through it is what powers our facility. Though not through that crystal alone; we have more." One of th guards answered.

"We have to use the force to open it." Another said.

Exar watched as they lifted their arms and concentrated, then turned and faced the door as he heard it opening.

Once the doors opened, he looked inside and looked on in wonder at the vast collection of documents and books filled in on the many, many shelves in the great room.

"This is the so-sacred library." Exar said.

"This is what we protect with our lives." A guard added.

Then Exar noticed a flaw. "If this library is so important, then why does it only have one door? Shouldn't there be an emergency exit?"

The guards gestured for Exar to follow them. They stopped at the back of the library, next to a wall. "There is an emergency exit. In case of invasion," The guard delivered a hard punch to the wall, and knocked bricks out of the wall, not leaving a portion of any brick on the wall. A human(oid)-sized hole was in the wall. Exar looked in and saw stairs and pathways. "In case of invasion, we all head here and take as many documents as we can and go through these secret tunnels; and we preserve them in a casing. This path leads to a secret docking bay where we can escape the planet via hyperspace. There is a launching platform that jumpstarts the ship and immediately pushes us into lightspeed."

"Clever. Whoever founded this place really thought of everything." Exar said.

Ephram could sense the force moving, and was nervously anxious for the events to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Exar had been shown the ropes for guarding the place, and had practiced alarm protocol with the other guards. Since there had rarely been any invasion or intrusion, there wasn't much to do there, but they always remained on guard.

"Has there actually been any incursion here?" Exar asked one of the guards on break time.

"Well, only one." The guard replied.

"Ugh! That's disgusting!" Exar exclaimed as he was forced to look away from the wasted Republic soldier corpses.

"They had heard rumors of this place and all of its resources, so they sought it out. Obviously, they found it. They tried to steal what was not theirs, so this is what has become of them."

 _'Our kind did this.'_ Exar thought to himself. He felt more inclined than before to leave; he didn't want to be a part of such horrors. Something about the story somewhat intrigued him. "What was it they were trying to steal?" He asked.

"Crystals." The guard answered. "This planet is abundant with them. They tried taking a bunch for themselves. With the amount of resources they tried stealing, they could've done unspeakable damage to the galaxy."

"We can't have that, now." Exar muttered.

Exar browsed through the library and took down a couple selected documents, and sat down at a table. He read through several documents, and found nothing on 'elementeers.' He looked for what felt like hours -but was only less than one- and had no success.

He opened one document, which he found in a slightly more secluded area in the library, and began reading. _'I feel like I should've started with this one.'_ He thought. As he started reading, he added, _'Dang! I was right.'_

He read on, and as he learned of the document itself and not just the content, he figured out that this was a legend. A true one, especially. Elementeers existed, and he learned that the author of the document was a reliable and trustworthy.

Exar read on in the elementeer document, and there things started getting twist-y. He learned of something dangerous to come. As he finished, he had gathered evidence and concluded, _'Holy kriff! This is not just a legend. This... this is a prophecy.'_

He imagined the pressure that the elementeers would have to go through. He knew they wouldn't be alone in the journey; there would be some powerful, dark forces up against them.

He knew he couldn't stay; but he couldn't let this prophecy go unknown by his friends, the elementeers. Most of them, though. _'That's right!'_ He remembered. _'The prophecy said there were four elementeers; there are only three back home.'_ Then he knew what he had to do. _'I need to find the fourth.'_

Aren, Tover, Ora, Dara, and Jecht had prepared themselves for their mission, and stocked up on weapons. They marched dramatically into the hangar bay and into their shuttle.

Ephraim saw this and knew the time was here. His face darkened, and was saddened at the thought of possibly never seeing Exar again. But Exar was over on Dathomir II; he didn't know when the leaders were going to be leaving, so he couldn't set a precise time to make his move. He'd have to do it when he'd get home. Ephraim knew he'd have to cover Exar in his escape.

He'd get to see Exar again; he'd have to wait.

"You okay?" Kaiyah asked as she saw Ephraim's expression.

"Yeah, but. . . I just have a feeling something bad is going to happen soon."

"How bad?" Kaiyah asked.

"I don't know. I just might be a little sad I'm going to see less of Exar. You know, we've been friends for a long time. That sort of thing, you know."

"So, either, you're only a little anxious, or something bad is going to happen soon? You kinda had me at 'something bad' happening ' _soon_.' "

"I get that. Sorry. To put it simply, something normal, or something really bad was going to happen soon." Ephraim said.

Little did Ephraim know, he was right.

"Everyone remember the plan?" Aren asked as he flew the camouflaged ship in the direction of D'Qar in the Ileenium system.

"Yes, but I noticed you entered coordinates ditrectly into the Resistance home planet. I don't recall that being part of the plan. I thought it was somewhere else." Tover said.

"Where else would the Resistance receive an image of a massacre causer? Some other base that we're most likely going to burn down. Or the heavily guarded command center?"

"We're going to the command center?" Dara asked.

"A base on the command center. We'll be able to sneak in before we're spotted. It'll be easier than you think." Aren replied.

"I hope you're right." Ora said.

"We'll need to be quick. I loaded plenty of explosives for us to dump." Aren said.

"Guys, you ready?" Ephraim asked Kaiyah and Becky from the cockpit of his shuttle.

"Locked and loaded." Becky replied.

"Boom." Kaiyah responded, picking up a large machine gun and cocking it. "Let's do this."

"That's what I'm talking about." Ephraim said while grinning, loving the enthusiasm.

"We're only heading to the Ragna system in the Mid-Rim. We'll be there and back before we know it."

"I think you're right. Considering our skills, I think we'll make a pretty formidable team." Kaiyah said.

"Yeah definitely." Ephraim said.

"Cool."

"So cool."

Exar stepped out of the library, and looked and saw no one around. _'No one should have all this knowledge; it's too dangerous. I can't destroy the place though.'_ He looked up and saw the glowing circle gem. He raised an eyebrow, and curled up one side of his mouth.

Exar quietly snickered as he looked at the shard he took, then let it slide back into his sleeve. He looked back up, then his grin faltered; he suddenly remembered he had to go through a complex maze before he got to the surface where he could escape.

Aren shielded the ship as he flew past the Resistance scanners; he and the others landed safely on the far outskirts of D'Qar.

"Alright everyone." Aren said as he stood and opened the ramp, "Load up." He said as he pulled a rack down from the roof, and speeders came down. Everyone pulled their speeders outside.

"Got the guns?" Aren asked Jecht. He nodded and pulled a big crate; Jecht pulled the lid off, and he pulled out one rocket launcher.

"We're good." Jecht replied, connecting the weapons crate to the back of his speeder.

"Alright. Let's go." Aren said as they all jumped on their speeders and sped along one direction with the coordinates Jecht received.

Once they reached their destination, they jumped off and hid behind rocks which were used as barriers.

Aren looked at Jecht and nodded.

Jecht nodded back and picked up his rocket launcher. He propped it up with his arms and aimed. He noticed an X-Wing was taking off, and aimed at it. He shot the X-Wing down, and it crashed back in front of the Resistance docking bay, blocking any escape. Jecht quickly reloaded and shot the outside of the bay, explosions erupting around the courtyard.

Alarms erupted around the base, and the leaders went to do their job. Aren, Dara, and Ora sneaked around the base to try to get in.

The three intruded the base and found the control room.

The Resistance control room went into panic; they couldn't spot their intruders, and almost every way of escape was taken.

 _KNOCK KNOCK_ _ **BOOM**_

The officers covered themselves, then looked back up at the intruders who blew the door down.

"Who's there?" Aren monotonously asked before he and Ora and Dara openly fired on all the troopers.

Some of them ducked behind the tables and drew their blasters. They briefly went up to fire a couple shots but were shot down. One shot hit Aren on his shoulder. Her grunted and fell to the floor.

Aren looked up; and as he was on the ground, he crawled over to the rebels' barriers. He reached over and swiped his arm around, choking the soldiers to unconsciousness.

"Brother, are you okay?" Ora asked.

Aren got up easily and went back to her and Dara. "I'm fine." He sensed a soldier moving on the floor; he drew his blaster and -without looking- shot the soldier in the head. "Take care of the others around the base; I'll set the bombs in place here." He said, reaching behind and taking his back pack off.

Ora nodded and she and Dara rushed off. Aren cracked his neck and began working.

"I don't know what's happening in there, but they're faster than we imagined." Tover said as he spotted reinforcements in the sky.

"Oh kriff!" Jecht exclaimed as he gave Tover his rocket launcher and pulled another weapon from his crate. Tover had knocked out one X-Wing, and Jecht set up an already-loaded blaster cannon. As they were being fired on, Jecht commanded "You focus on the base; I'll get these guys." and he quickly activated the one-way shield.

Jecht closed his eyes and summoned the force to help his aim. He opened his eyes and knocked out the entire rest of the fleet of eight fighters. "Piece of cake."

Ora and Dara found themselves surrounded by soldiers.

"Put your hands in the sir." The commander said.

"Of course." Ora said with a grin. She raised her hands, and Dara followed. Once the soldiers slowly approached them, Ora clenched her raised fists, and they all fell dead.

"Oh come on! I wanna go at them." Dara said.

"I'll take out their communications; you'll deal with them." Ora said as she pointed to an incoming squad of soldiers.

Dara looked and grinned. She activated her body-length arm shield and protected herself from the fire. Ora had already jumped up onto the roof to take out the antennas and satellites.

Once they got close enough, Dara lowered her shield and ducked. She quickly uppercutted two of the soldiers, making them stumble back into other soldiers. She jumped, flipped and slammed her foot down on one other. She picked up one unconscious body and used it as a shield against more blaster fire, then she used it as a club against the rest.

Ora jumped up on the roof and whipped out her altered vibro-voulse weapon. She ran across the rooftop, cutting down their signal-receivers. She only cut down two before a pair of guns came up on the roof.

"Oh s-"

They started firing at her, and she immediately spun her weapon around, deflecting the shots back. In no time, the guns were destroyed.

"Huh." She hummed. _'Sometimes I even impress myself.'_

Back on Tatooine, the other Zabraks and humans were trying to get in contact with the leaders, but didn't receive any response; that worried them.

"Tover. Do you have eyes on the HK?" Aren asked through the comms as he finished setting up the charges all over the control room.

" _None_. _Where do you think he is_?" Tover asked back.

"I don't know." Aren replied, sliding his hand across his face. He then looked across the control panels. "Tover I have an idea." Then he closed the channel.

He found a functioning computer and activated it. He looked through data files and reports and schedules. He checked the schedules, but found nothing. He then looked throught the data files and looked through leaked images. He found the one of Exar, and snarled. He tapped into it and looked at the details.

He looked and observed, and he found a snitch. The details of the picture itself, and the imager that took it. It was an outdated, one-way signal imager, and those were only still used by those of Aren's organization. Aren had a bit to think about. _'Did he do this? Is he betraying us?'_

He found out what he could and was satisfied with it. He exited the control room and joined his other friends on the field of the base.

"It's set to blow! Let's get out of here." Aren said as he, Ora, and Dara finished off the last of the Resistance soldiers and went off. They went back up, and Jecht and Tover packed up and left with them. Aren activated the detonator as they hopped onto their speeders and escaped safely.

Or so they thought.

A particular droid's eye had spotted them and broadcast a signal to the other Resistance base.

Exar had finally gotten out of the maze with his crystal; but once he did, reality smacked him in the face _. 'I could've just taken the crystal and escaped through the secret tunnel! Exar, you dunce! Well it's too late to go back now; I should hurry.'_

Exar sneaked off and found another exit, where the guard ships were landed on the platform. He admired the ships briefly, and approached one.

Before he got in one, he jumped when he heard, "They're a beauty aren't they?" Tobian laughed when he saw that he scared Exar. "You almost jumped out of your skull!"

"Goodness! Yeah, they are a beauty. Very clean. They look efficient, and very familiar." Exar said, recovering from the jump scare.

"Very efficient, yes. They can travel about halfway across the galaxy without losing all its fuel. That is, _without_ hyperspace."

"Wow! So they could go from here to maybe Coruscant?"

"Maybe. We haven't tested them _that_ far."

. . .

"What were you going to do with one of these ships?" Tobian then asked out of nowhere.

"Wh-huh? What do you mean?"

"You were going to leave."

"What makes you think that?!"

"You were in the library for a long time, and I've sensed a disturbance growing within you as time passed on. And-" Tobian lifted his hand, and he used the force. The crystal shard was yanked from Exar's sleeve, and Tobian held it in his hand.

"Aren won't be too happy about this." Tobian said, pulling up his comlink.

"Sorry." Exar said quietly before he placed his hand on the side of Tobian's face, and then Tobian passed out. Exar took the crystal back and quickly hopped into one of the ships. He lifted off and drove through space. He activated the hyperdrive and begun his new journey.

 _'I did it!'_ He congratulated himself, then he became depressed. _'I actually did it.'_ He thought, only a bit more sadly. _'Goodbye Ephraim, Kaiyah, and Becky.'_

The leaders returned from their mission, and landed their partly damaged ship in the docking bay. Almost everyone in the organization was present, eagerly awaiting their return, yet anxious to know if they lost anyone.

They were eased when the ramp lowered, and all five elders stepped down. Everyone erupted in applaud. Aren raised his hand and stretched it outward, gesturing everyone to be quiet.

"There's really no need. Was there actually doubt that some of us would return?" Aren asked. The audience got the point, and shrugged it off. "As you were." Aren dismissed.

Once everyone started scattering, Aren asked Tover, "Tover." Tover acknowledged. "What time is it?"

"It is 0817, why?"

. . .

"Aren?"

"Sunrider should've been back a while ago." Aren growled.

 _'Oh crap! He used the last name!'_ The other leaders thought.

"Get Tobian on the line." Aren commanded.

Jecht pulled Tobian on the hologram on the mission table. They could see Tobian was also displeased.

"Aren. . . Did you assign Exar Sunrider to sabotage the library and escape with one of our ships to an unknown destination?"

"Exar left?" Aren asked, surprised but not surprised.

"Yes. He took a shard from the library crystal; now the library is inaccessible."

"Not really a bad thing, but it's definitely not a good thing; there's much in that library we learn from, but if it's inaccessible, then no enemy could infiltrate it."

"But Exar got away."

"Yes, I know. Thank you for your time." Aren said before the hologram shut off. Aren leaned his head down and closed his eyes. He clenched his fists, then cooled down. He stood straight, then said to his fellow leaders, "Everyone! It seems we have a deserter."

Ora and Tover were the only ones that looked worried; the price for deserting was very high with Aren. They didn't want one of their most gifted students to pay.

Ora stepped up and took Aren to the side. "Brother, do you actually intend to make Exar pay?"

"What other way is there? The only reason those have had for deserting is that they didn't agree with our ways, and they threatened to expose us. We just prevented the Resistance from doing that; Exar can't do that."

"Exar loves us. He wouldn't, _condemn_ us."

"His desertion is proof against that. We have to find him, and we will take him back." Aren said. He started going off to issue the organization an arrest warrant and a reward for whoever captures Exar.

Then Ora grabbed his arm; Aren stopped immediately and sharply looked into her eyes. He then saw Ora's face; she looked angry, but also looked as if she was about to let a tear fall. "Aren. You, will _not, harm, my_ _ **son**_!"

"His escape, is too risky for us. We have no choice. We're under too much pressure already from what you told me Exar saw in the future."

Ora was about to retort, but Ephraim's ship landed in the bay. They let the subject go, and approached the shuttle as Ephraim and his team exited.

"Ephraim. How'd it go?" Aren asked.

"The base is obliterated; no threats there. Um, is Exar here?"

Ora and Aren looked at each other suspiciously, but Ephraim noticed. He then suspected Exar had gone through with his plan.

"Is he here?" Ephraim asked slowly. Becky and Kaiyah then looked worried with the delay of answers.

"Due to an inconvenient chain of events, I regret to inform you that Exar. . . has deserted."

Ephraim went wide-eyed. Then he turned and stared out the docking bay doors. The sun was going down; the sky was red.


	6. Chapter 6

Exar: A Youth Wars Story

Part 2: The Fugitive

Chapter 1 _**(Chapter 6)**_

Exar was dropped out of hyperspace suddenly when an engine failure occured. "Ah! Too much hyperspace!" He exclaimed. The ship found itself crashing into a plain green, blue, and white planet. Exar tried pulling up to steady the ship's landing, but it didn't budge very much. The nose moved upwards enough before he hit the ground hard.

Exar felt massive pain in his right arm and held it carefully. He opened the canopy and tried getting out; but when he got out, the canopy closed on his cape. It yanked him back. He tried using the force to open it, but he was weakened; the canopy didn't move. He pulled and pulled, then-

RIIIIIP

Exar slumped to the ground. He looked down at his cape and saw that the edge was not only shredded, but it was shoulder length. He leaned his head back on the ground and sighed to himself, "I liked that cape."

He saw a carrier approaching him. He knew that no one would know who he was, and luckily he was right. It was an ambulance rescue.

"Sir, are you hurt?" One of the workers asked him.

"Kinda. My right arm is in pain." Exar replied weakly.

"We're gonna get you to a hospital okay?"

"Yeah." The workers assisted him up and into the carrier.

Exar's arm was in a cast. The hospital workers did their best to heal him, but couldn't take away the pain.

"I don't know how it happened, but the inside of your right arm was severely damaged. It will take longer than usual to heal, but if you're in another accident like you were, there's no guarantee that. . . no guarantee that you'll be able to keep the arm. Your arm can heal, but it will be weakened."

The doctor saw the despaired look on Exar's face and asked, "Are there any family members you'd like me to contact?"

Exar waited before answering. "No. No one."

"Pardon me for asking, but, do you _have_ parents?"

"They're not here."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The doctor said. "What do you plan on doing now?"

Exar only knew one answer to that. "I guess. . . I'll have to find a living here. I need to earn enough to get my ship fixed."

 _'But what do I do until then?'_

 _Six Months Later_

Exar was taking a walk through the green plains. For the longest time, he had known peace; not just in good happenings, but peace inside too. The fields he often explored were a significant source of peace; the force was strong with the planet, and he fueled himself with it.

He found a steady job in which he could earn money to help fix his ship and build a temporary living. Surprisingly, to Exar, a server at the local bar was a very efficient occupation with a high minimum wage. It took him a long time to get the job, but he started a firm lifestyle, and his ship would soon be fully repaired.

Exar was determined to find a bigger, better, and more meaningful life to live than he previously had been living. Of course he did miss all his friends, but he couldn't have remained.

Then, in the middle of a "peace session," Exar spotted a familiar black shuttle coming into the atmosphere. He almost panicked, then sensed only one life form on the ship. Exar saw it land in the distance, but it was out of sight. Knowing full well he had committed treason in his organizations' book, he figured this wasn't a friendly reunion.

Exar stood on the top of a hill out in the open and stared in the direction which he saw Ephraim's ship land. He noticed a black mist crawling on the ground; it went at him from all sides, but he sensed no hostility. It all went behind him and it piled up, then formed a human. It disappeared, and there stood Ephraim.

"What are you doing here?" Exar asked.

"We have to talk." Ephraim replied. Exar knew this was going to be a bumpy ride.

"You're a hard guy to find. Lucky that ship you took wasn't able to be tracked."

"Yeah."

"What've you been doing all this time?"

"Fixing what I have left before I move on."

"So was the cape recent?" Ephraim asked, taking a grip on the shredded cape.

"No it wasn't! I don't want it ripped more." Exar replied, gently yanking the cape away. "So, uh, what was that smoke thing?"

"That, was my element."

"Smoke's an element?"

"No it's more like a gas. Gas takes many forms and can be very deadly."

" _Can_ you be a deadly gas?"

"Not yet."

"Ah. So is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No. No. Just, uh. . . something very tragic has happened."

"You're no longer the most gifted student?"

"As far as they're concerned, I'm the only student."

Exar began to break down inside.

"Exar, it's gone."

Exar fell to his knees.

"Of course. . . Kaiyah and Becky made it out. So, not the _only_ one."

Exar sighed in relief, but was still shaken.

"What happened?" Exar then asked.

"To be honest, I'm not even sure. There were these, things, that suddenly invaded us, and they killed, actually, most of them." They both knew what he meant. "Kaiyah, Becky, and you and I, are all that's left of our top rankings. Heceowa was out with a group, and missed the whole thing. He and his squad are now the only ones who can guard the library now."

"What about _you_?"

"I have something else I live for. I cannot devote enough time to protect the sacred knowledge. As long as there is someone protecting it, at least."

Exar sighed again. "It's all gone." He whimpered.

Ephraim lowered himself and placed a hand on Exar's shoulder. "We feel your pain. If it makes you feel any better, I saved a couple things from destruction. My journal which contains some notes on how I got better, as well as other things I took note of. And as long as the library still stands, what we lived to protect still lives on."

"How did they take it?" Exar asked.

"Don't get me wrong, we were _all_ devastated."

They both passed in a moment of silence. Exar stood to his feet, looked to Ephraim and said, "I am glad to see you alive and well, and to know my new friends made it as well comforts me."

"You have a living currently?"

" _Currently_ , I'm. . . finding a place to stay. It has varied from the past months."

"I have a secret life in the Republic as an electrician. No one inside knows of my abilities. My point is: I can help you if you need tips on a stable living."

"That won't be necessary. I have a job at the local family bar; I can manage. I don't always get paid the same all the time; that's why my living places change occasionally."

"Have you trained?"

"I have, but sometimes it made me miss my old life, so I resented."

"The force is essential, you need to-"

They both turned as they sensed a strong, unusual pull in the force. It wasn't a dark pull, but it certainly didn't feel light. They spotted a cave far into the distance and felt it as the source of the pull. They shared a concerned look at each other before slowly journeying to the cave on the mountain in the distance.

They stood at the entrance of the cave, and saw it was only yards deep. A cloaked (of course) figure sat at the end.

"Ah, Exar! Ephraim! Welcome." The figure said.

"Who are you?" Ephraim asked, he and Exar confused and uneasy.

"Are you asking me? Or yourself?" The stranger asked. Ephraim's brow furrowed even more, encouraging the man to quietly chuckle. "I am kidding, I know you are talking to me. But I ask you: _do_ you ever ask yourself that?"

"I'm inclined to ask again: who _are_ you?"

"Who I am, is many thing. What I am, is who I am."

"And what is that?" Exar then asked.

"I am force-sensitive, but am neither a Jedi nor a sith. A seer, and a teacher." The stranger answered. He held the tips of his fingers together, then slowly pulled them apart. Beams of light emitted and held each finger like strings. The man then clapped his hands together, and the light flashed throughout the cave. Ephraim and Exar found themselves temporarily blinded, but their vision returned shortly after. They found themselves in a plain white void.

"What was that?" Ephraim asked.

"Just a little something I learned from someone. It has many uses, including a blinding light."

"You called us here? And first off: where is here?" Exar asked.

The man didn't answer or move for a second, then he stood up and told them, "This, is the void. I have programmed this into your minds; it is the most efficient way to, _'settle,'_ things. You will only use this when necessary, but this isn't important. You both have a great destiny ahead of your lives. Destinies of which I cannot tell you. There is still very much you need to learn, and much you need to do. "

Exar and Ephraim were greatly intrigued. Exar especially; he had wanted a meaning for his life, and he thought he found it. "Sounds good to me. What do I have to do?" Exar asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"You, do nothing. Your time will come soon enough. And I don't mean in decades when you've forgotten about it; I mean it's pretty much around the corner. Be patient; you'll get your shot." The man answered. He then turned to Ephraim and said, "As for you, there's much you need to do. Once you're done here, you need to find someone." He handed Ephraim a holodisc.

"Just, what's going on?" Exar then asked. "I mean, I get that you, I guess, need us to do certain things; but, really, _what's_ going on?"

"The endgame." The man said, then after a dramatic pause, he continued, "The endgame has been in effect for a long time, and the result is near."

"What's it for? Why is there an _'endgame?'_ " Ephraim asked.

"It is time. Time to defeat all evil. The next and final phase will begin, and you two will be the ones to engage it."

"What do we need to do?"

"This is where things change for you. While living in the Republic, you," The man said to Ephraim, "will also be a sith."

"What?! Ephraim doesn't have it _in him_ to be a sith." Exar defended.

"I can help with that. It needs to happen if evil is to be destroyed. Your memories as friends will be wiped; you will be enemies for the time being."

"What?! Why? Can there be another way?" Exar begged.

"Hahaha! Of course! I was just messing with you. You _will_ be enemies, somewhat; you will have your memories, but one will be added, and some will be taken, as to not contradict."

"What does that mean?" Ephraim asked.

"It means, there will be a memory of a tragedy, and it split you two to become enemies. You won't remember this encounter, but you'll know that what you're doing is a part of a master plan to fix what was done wrong eons ago."

"So to clarify that complicated mess. . . we'll be enemies, but we might do some contradictory actions that end up making the galaxy a safer place? So. . . like a hunch?" Exar added.

"If it needs to be done for the greater good, then we'll do it." Ephraim said.

"Exar Sunrider, there is a friend waiting for you at the bar. Meet with him." The man said before the light in the void brightened, then flashed.

Exar found himself back in the field, with next-to-no memory of the events that happened. He did know that he was waited for at the bar, so he went that way.

Ephraim had pretty much no memory of the event as well; he found himself in his shuttle with the holodisc in his hands. And he noticed that new coordinates were logged into his ship, so he set a course.

Exar entered the bar and found his friend sitting at the bar table. He approached and sat down beside him. "Aang?"

"Hey." Aang greeted.

"Have _you_ found a place yet?"

"I have. That's why I came here. I've found my place among the Republic as a secret Jedi. Within the past month, rumors have erupted that the sith might have returned to the galaxy. I'm going to help hunt them down. That is, if they exist. I was going to ask if you were interested in also going."

"Sounds like an interesting offer. I'll consider; but. . . for now, I. . . have other things I might need to do." Exar said as he stared at the monitor. Aang was confused at his expression and looked at the monitor as well.

" _Wanted criminal Tarth Orden has struck again; this time at a Mandalorian mining station. Witnesses claim to have seen him take loads of Mandalorian iron and disappeared. No one has seen him recently, but to all miners across the galaxy: stay safe and protect your resources; we have no idea when_ -"

The signal was interrupted, and a mechanically disrupted voice spoke over it. " _To all who are listening, I am a secret Resistance sympathizer; I was present when the assault occured. I spied from a distance; while he did his job, I stole his list of future targets. He's going for rich, outer-rim systems. Systems such as Mon Calamari, Lothal, and Raxus. Citizens, let your planets thrive; don't let Tarth steal your resources. Together, we can bring him down_." Then the video interruption ceased.

"Who was that?" Exar asked.

"No one knows. He said he was a secret sympathiz-"

"No. I meant, who is Tarth? How long has he been wanted?" Exar corrected.

"You haven't watched the news in recent months have you?" Aang asked.

"Hadn't had a reason to." Exar said.

"Hey! Maybe this is a sign." Aang suggested.

"Sign of what?"

"This can be your calling in life. I may not know much about your early life, but I know by bringing him in, you could make your mark."

"Why not you? What would make it different than going after sith?"

"I have too much I need to keep track of. My life would fall to pieces if I set all that aside to hunt a powerful criminal."

"Are you alone in the Republic in hunting sith?" Exar asked.

"I'm waiting for a response. I feel like because I came across a little ambitious and arrogant, the bosses kinda resent me. I'm waiting for an official response from them; but in the meantime, I'm finding a way to change their perspective. I don't think it'd help by bringing in a criminal."

"A little confusing, but. . . okay. But even if I knew it was my calling, how could I get anywhere?"

"Your ship should be prepared any day now. If not, then wait for him to come here." Aang said, getting up and starting to leave.

"Where are you going?" Exar asked.

"There are important things that I need to do to keep my living intact. I believe you're powerful enough to handle this guy." Then Aang was gone.

 _'Still didn't answer my question. We could beat him together. One man can't do the job of two.'_ He remembered that phrase and flashbacked to Ephraim. He buried his face in his hands and sighed. _'Why Erk? Why did you forsake me?'_

He took himself from that train of thought and dwelled on the news he watched. A thought popped into his head and started turning his wheels. "Hey, Jho?" He called.

"What's up?" Jho III answered.

"When did the attack happen?"

" _As far as I know, reports of it were released a week ago; but it only came on the news today, a week later_."

 _'That's more than enough time for him to invade a couple more planets. He could be on Lothal any day now.'_ He thought. "Where's Lothal's rescource factory?"

" _It's on the south side of the planet_."

"I'll have to fly over there. I'll see you later, Jho."

"You too." Jho waved as Exar sped out. _'May the force be with you.'_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 2 _**(Chapter 7)**_

Exar rushed into the mechanics shop and shouted, "Hey! I need my ship."

The workers jumped from their stations and nearly screamed. One of them told Exar, "Conveniently, we were just about to notify you it was ready to go. The complexity, the design, and overall construction was very tough to reproduce. But we got it done."

"Let's hope so." Exar said as he approached his remodeled ship and jumped onto it. "It might not be a convenience, rather it could be an act of the force." Exar added before opening the canopy and jumping into his starfighter.

"Pardon me for asking, but might I inquire as to what your rush is?"

"Tarth Orden is heading here to Lothal, and I'm going to protect its resources." Exar answered.

. . .

"Who?"

. . .

"He's just an apparently very infamous and dangerous criminal." Exar said as he started up his ship. The engines flared, but his ship barely lifted off the ground. "What's this?"

"Oh, hold on. Let us undo the locks."

Workers undid ship locks so the ship could move properly. Exar then sped out and soared across the grassy plains.

" _Woah_ this thing really moves!"

Exar adjusted to the speed and noticed new features to the ship. "Ooooh kriff, I hope these new adjustments didn't screw up anything good in this ship."

Conveniently, Exar found a mine within a half hour and landed nearby. He approached the workers, but was stopped by them.

"S'cuse me sir, but this is a dangerous area; we need you to leave."

"It's going to be even more dangerous if you don't export whatever sources you found and block out the mine. Tarth Orden is on his way here, and he will slaughter all of you to steal the valuables you've discovered."

"Hold on, slow down, what?"

"A powerful, relentless 'riches-hunting' criminal is coming here to steal Lothal's resources for himself; we have to prevent that from happening by moving everything you have and temporarily blocking out the mine."

"We can't do that. We should call the Resistance if it's as serious as you're making it sound."

" _ **No**_! Uh, you shouldn't, do that. . . um, a, big battle, might further damage the mine. We can handle this on our own."

"How are you so sure?"

"I have some of the greatest fighting skills the galaxy has ever seen, that's how. Listen, the longer you contemplate, the sooner he'll come, and you'll be defenseless."

"I think we've made our decision.

It was nighttime, and it was the workers' curfew; the site was shut down, and the minerals were covered up. There were thick clouds in the dark sky, as forecasted. The perfect condition to drop in and pilage.

A small, black one-man fighter stealthily dropped down from the atmosphere. The ship was so well-designed that it could only be clearly seen with night vision, which Exar didn't have at this point.

It gracefully hovered above the grass and made its way towards the mine; it stopped ten yards away. The canopy wasn't automatically opened, rather it was quietly pushed open. Tarth Orden, dressed in all black, held onto his ship as he lifted himself off his feet and carefully landed himself on the grass.

Having experience in stealth, Tarth knew how to slither through the grass without an obnoxious rustling noise following him to his destination.

He successfully arrived at the mining site without a sound louder than a whisper. He had a small device that could track the signature of valuable materials, and he followed the signal to the covered crates. He lowered his head to the crates and took in a big sniff, and knew he hit a jackpot. _'Of some sorts.'_

He flipped the cover off, then something happened that he didn't predict. Once he uncovered the box, a flash was triggered, then the site's alarms went off. Lights were shone directly on the spot, and people surrounded the invader.

 _'Well this was certainly unprecidented.'_ Tarth thought.

He turned three hundred sixty degrees and observed his surroundings, until he came face to face with Exar.

"I don't think you should be here." Exar said smugly, crossing his arms.

"Listen kid, there's more going on than you understand." Tarth stated, jolting a finger in his direction.

"Try me." Exar said, whipping out a staff-like weapon and posing. He taunted Tarth with two fingers, gesturing him forward.

"I can't tell you what this is needed for; but believe me, you don't want to do this."

"That's what they all say." Exar said, flipping towards him and swinging at him from all angles. Tarth bent his body around, dodging each blade swerve and strike.

"I can see you're relentless." Tarth said, pulling out a baton and retaliating. Once they locked, Tarth added, "I see you're using the rarest form of combat." Exar became curious and broke the lock.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh you should know if you're fighting with it. The combination of Form Two and Form Seven; the creator called it Form Eight."

"How would you know of such a thing?"

"Oh come _on_! If you know that form of combat, then you can't be so daft. You learned from _him_ didn't you?"

"I learned under Aren Mastigar."

"Oh that was disappointing. I don't _know_ who _that_ is." Tarth said.

 _'Was.'_ Exar thought. _'Where was Ephraim when it happened?'_

"Well. . ." Tarth said, putting his baton back. "This did not go as planned. I believe I should leave you to your thoughts."

"Wait, what?" Exar came back from his distracted state. He saw as Tarth slammed a smoke bomb on the ground and disappeared.

When the miners -who were alowly and carefully closing in on the duelers- saw what had happened, they looked over in the distance and saw a ship taking off; they saw Tarth in the cockpit.

"He's getting away!" One of them shouted.

Exar frowned, concentrated, then ran as fast as he could towards Tarth's ascending fighter; he used all the force he could gather at the moment and lept into the air, hoping to catch the ship; but it got out of reach quickly.

Exar then had to quickly break his own fall amidst his panic during last-second planning and execution. He was only a couple feet from the ground when he started slowing his fall; he landed a little hardly, and felt some pain in his limbs. He held his right arm and rubbed it.

Exar was so caught up in thinking about what had happened, that he didn't notice the Resistance ships approaching. But it was too late; he turned around when he heard the ships' whirring, but they all shone their lights on him.

The ships lowered and Resistance soldiers circled around him. "Get on your knees! Get on your knees!"

Exar, though confused, slowly complied and lowered to his knees. "What did I do? I just tried stopping someone from robbing this mine?"

Then, a burly Resistance commander with an HK droid stepped in from behind the circle and glared down on Exar. "Is this him?"

The HK droid scanned Exar's face, observing and identifying each structure. Then the droid showed the picture of Exar that he received months before. Exar immediately remembered the picture and was scared.

"Affirmative. Everything matches." The droid replied.

"Well well." The commander rubbed his gloved hands. "We got 'im." Resistance soldiers cuffed him and put him on one of their shuttles.

Exar thought of a way out of it; he figured something out fairly quickly, "How do you think you got that photo in the first place?" He asked out of nowhere.

"It was sent to us from the base you invaded."

"Did you ever stop to ask yourself _'who sent it?'_ "

"Are you implying that you sent the photo?"

Exar raised his eyebrows and made an expression that read, _'Well. . . yeah.'_

"You expect me to believe you'd rat yourself out? You're cutting down a soldier in the photo."

"I do regret my former life; I do so very much. I didn't end up killing the soldier in the photo; before I did, I had an epiphane and suddenly rethought my life. Taking the photo was my first act of implementing my escape from my former life."

"The entire base exploded."

"Aaaaaah, yes. _That_ , wasn't me."

"There's more of you?"

"Well, there comes another reason I needed to leave. I had received a vision from above that there was going to be a massive persecution, so I needed to get a way off the ride. The happening at the base was the push I needed."

"Your story seems believable, but we'll need to ask you some more questions."

"Where are the 'others' you spoke of?" The Resistance interrogator asked Exar.

Exar's gaze fell downwards a little, indicating an unsettling memory. "Well. . ." Exar started. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I was told that what I envisioned came to pass. They all died."

"The interrogator leaned back in his seat and said, "My condolences. News of a falling out like that must've been hard."

"It was." Exar's gaze didn't avert.

"Mind if I ask who told you?"

"That's gonna be a little hard."

"How so?"

"I can't remember who told me, but there's a memory -something- in the back of my mind showing me only a little of that moment."

"A memory alteration?"

"I'm not sure I would say 'alteration.' I think something may have blocked a little of my memory."

"This is certainly a strange inconvenience. We're gonna keep you here for a little while; I hope you'll be able to help us in an investigation."

"I'll, uh, see what I can do."

The interrogator smiled. "Good."

"Wait, am I gonna have to have a cell?"

"As far as anyone else is concerned, you're kinda a murderer. Your story is convincing, but we can never be too careful. I'll talk to the commander to see what I can do."

"The Resistance is underrated." Exar exclaimed as he chewed into some Groat chop. He had a teerlop-zikody topped with enyak bob, and had a side of Kodari-rice.

"Some would say so." T he commander replied.

"You know, I really was trying to prevent an attempted theft at the mine. I think if I wasn't directly targeted, you guys could've caught him."

"It's all precaution."

"I meant to say that I could help you guys catch him if necessary." Exar said, making them think.

"Tarth Orden is a very infamous and dangerous criminal. Capturing him will be tough."

"He's been on the run for months." Exar said. "Capturing him could prove my innocence."

"Or maybe the complete opposite." The commander suggested.

Exar stood. "Look, my mind was under control at the time I was a merciless murderer. Ever since I've basically gained my own consciousness, I've been trying to rid myself of my past life by building a new one. And I believe a servant of the Republic or the Resistance is the way to go."

"We can't give you a direct answer at the moment. It'll take time. It's still risky to just let a captive out of jail time-"

"Okay then, how about: if I help you bring in Tarth, maybe a few years can be taken off my sentence?"

"That's more reasonable. We'll discuss it with our authorities."

"I assure you, my intentions are sincere."

"That's what I'm worried about." The commander replied. Once everything was finished, Exar was escorted back to his cell.

"This Zabrak seems like he's telling the truth, but I'm not sure we should go through with it. What should I do, General?"

"Whatever you feel is right." General Leia replied. "For the good of the Resistance and the galaxy."

"How do I know what that is?"

"You'll know, commander. You'll know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to deal with. We've located something vital and I need to keep an ear out."

The commander was about to say one more thing, but the holocall ended. _'How will I know?'_

. . .

 _'I hope I don't regret this.'_

The commander and a two-guard escort stepped in front of Exar's cell."What do you have to offer us?"

Exar jumped to his feet and asked, "Other than my assistance?"

"What can you offer us to help catch Tarth Orden?"

"How about his next target?"

"Tarth is heading for Raxus." Exar said, pulling up a holomap of Raxus. A Resistance squad had been gathered as an escort to carry out Exar's mission to catch Tarth. "Specifically, Raxus Secondus. It's a very healthy world, and plenty of targets he'll be going after."

"How do we know which one?"

"Oh. We'll know."

"How -might I inquire- will we catch him?" The Resistance captain asked.

"We'll catch him because we have an immediate advantage." Exar replied. Lifting his hand -and the table shortly after- and showing them a simple wonder of the force.

"Where was this last time?" The captain asked.

"In the back of my mind. What's your excuse?" Exar retorted, earning some solid chuckles from his crowd.

"Get going, soldier." The captain said bluntly as the preparation began.

"We're coming for you Tarth." Exar grinned to himself. Then his pleasant expression disappeared as he dwelled upon a memory. One of nostalgia, which turned into one of pain.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Exar was taken with a squad of troopers and the HK droid on the mission to Raxus. Almost the whole ride there, Exar leered at the droid.

"Can I help you?" The droid asked.

"Who are you?" Exar asked.

"Protocol droid HK-47."

"You're not a Protocol Droid. Where are you from?"

"The Resistance."

"Who's your master?"

"The Resistance."

"Who manufactured you?"

"The Resistance."

Exar believed no word. "You're definitely not what you think you are. Are you programmed or are you an artificial intelligence unit?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand your question."

"You said yourself, you're an HK droid. _'HK-47'_ to be exact. An HK droid has not been seen in more than a millennium. One of the last to be seen was under the command of Darth Revan."

"Who?" A Resistance soldier asked.

"A sith of the _old_ , old, old Republic."

"Like from the Clone War?"

"Like from a millennium before the Clone War. He left quite a legacy behind. He built a deadly HK assassin droid, but his was the last ever to be seen."

"Interesting story."

"An interesting story I'd like to hear is how you guys got _this_ one."

"We. . . don't know."

"Who assigned it to you?"

. . .

"That is classified."

"In that case, be careful with this droid in the future. It's capable of much more than you realize."

"We think the same of you."

The Resistance squad landed on Nexus.

"He's here." Exar said. "I can sense him."

"Then we have no time to lose!"

" _He_ _ **does**_."

"Then it's your call." The second-in-command told him.

"Alright. . . Well, we ought to check in with the nearest and most efficient mining facilities. When we get our place in, we'll need a better distraction plan to nab 'im."

"That's a poorly basic plan."

"It's what I have thus far." Exar reasoned.

"Never mind, we'll discuss this next opportunity we get."

The small Resistance squad made it into town; they drew all sorts of eyes from the crowd as they perambulated the area. They found a holographic map of the city, hoping to pinpoint the mine locations.

"I see only one on this thing. We'll need something with wider range." Exar said to himself. "HK. The parts." He held out his hand as HK droid dispersed extension parts from its appendage and into the map. _'Never mind.'_ Exar thought as he let the droid do its work.

In a few seconds flat, the map expanded and highlited the many mines outside the city, in the outskirts.

"Impressive. Didn't think an HK droid would be so useful when watered down." Exar semi-complemented.

"Always a pleasure to exceed everyone's expectations." The droid retorted.

"You guys add a snarky attitude to this guy?" Exar asked.

"It wasn't our choice."

"Okay. We have a set of locations. Let's get a place and do a little research."

Exar rolled his palms over his forehead as he looked over all the research he had done in a rented room. "All these are basically the same. They mine the same materials for the same things. What else are we supposed to do? There's a one-in-four chance we'll actually catch him at the mine he arrives at."

"In that case, we'd better be precise." The commander said.

"Easier said than done!" Exar stress-panicked. "You guys make this seem so easy." He sighed. "I wish I had one of my old teams." He mumbled. "How do you guys do what you do? You've obviously been with the Resistance for a long time. How do you succeed like this?"

The commander removed his helmet and set it on the table, then sat down across from him. "I'm gonna be honest with you, kid. We don't win that often. Not by your viewpoint. The Resistance has immensely struggled to maintain its numbers in the war against the First Order; if I count my victories based on the numbers, then yeah we are losing. What really matters in a fight is your spirit, and will to fight for what you believe. That's what keeps us going. We lose so much every day; but our stronghold, our determination to win, is what keeps us from falling. If you keep your spirit alive, you will find a way."

Exar reclined in his seat and exhaled. "Dang. And I thought you were just another bland character. There's a lot more to this soldier thing than meets the eye."

"There's more to a soldier than the action. It's the blood, the dirt, and the grit of victory that builds us up and inspires us to keep fighting."

"What is it that defines _you_?" The HK droid asked.

Exar slowly looked down and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt; he admired it and the memories it held, the victories it helped him achieve. The family it came from. The family he surely missed despite harshness and resentment he received. It was where he belonged.

"My family." Exar finally responded. "I do this for my family."

The commander grabbed his helmet and stood up. "Rest yourself. He will most likely strike at night again."

"What happened to _'we don't have time to lose?'_ " Exar asked.

"That was just a push to get us started. We will rest; when we wake, we will prepare to take down Tarth Orden."

The team got settled in the "hotspot" near special possibly-targeted areas. They set up camp and refreshed and reloaded their weapons and supplies.

"So now with all of us after him and not you after me, we ought to be able to catch him. Right?" Exar asked sarcastically.

The leader looked up at Exar from cleaning his blaster, then back down. "Yeah. That's the plan."

"I stood a chance against him alone for a while. I _hope_ we'll get him _this_ time."

"Okay, I get it."

"So are we going to have a meeting with those in charge of the facilities?"

"Already been arranged. We're going to be there at 0700."

"When do we estimate Tarth will be there?"

"Much later. We'll have time to set him up."

"Aaaand what do we have to set him up with?"

"The element of surprise, for one."

"Okay, so what's the full plan?"

It was nighttime. The Resistance squad gained permission to oversee the area; now they were stealthily patrolling the mine site, waiting for Tarth to arrive.

 _"You in position?"_ The leader asked Exar.

"Affirmative."

 _"Wait for my signal."_

"I've had no other thought since you last told me so five minutes ago."

Exar just sat, and cleared his mind. He meditated while he waited.

Exar awoke as he sensed movement in the force. "Guys, he's here." He commed through the open channel.

 _"Stay alert, men."_ The leader responded.

Exar looked over and waited for him to come into view. He pulled a long blaster -not quite advanced to be a sniper rifle, but good enough for Exar- and set it up over his peering view. "I'm all set." He said.

After a few moments, Exar felt a warning through the force and moved out of the way just as a dart flew into the wall where his head was positioned. He picked it up and looked at it. _'He knew we were coming.'_ Then he fully realized what he said. _'Oh no!'_ He thought! He activated his comlink and shouted, "Watch out!" He got no response.

Exar looked above the wall and found the Resistance pack passed out. He sensed Tarth behind him and faced him. "What was that?"

"Nothing they won't sleep off. I must admit: if you were going to try to get the drop on me, then don't be so predictable. If someone clearly not of the Resistance is after me, I know it won't be the last I see of him."

"However," Exar interrupted, pulling out his lightsaber. "I can't say the same about you."

"I _can't_ agree with you." Tarth replied. "I'm not just a petty thief going after valuables. My mission is beyond your comprehension."

"Mhm. What's all the stuff for?"

". . . That I can't tell you. But I assure you, it is all for the greater good."

"Whose greater good?"

"Time." Tarth replied before taking out a small, circular device and opening two portals. Through one, his score came through all packaged up; and the other, he took everything and stepped through. Then it closed.

Exar remained a statue, dumbfounded at Tarth's answers. He clipped his deactivated lightsaber back onto his belt. For the first time in a while, he didn't know what to do next. At all.

Once he had time to reflect, Exar realized he passed on two careers. He thought, 'What am I going to do with my life?'

He left his home for a good reason, but his mind was a blur. He remembered Erk being a friend, but now he felt a genuine rivalry with him. Like he was an enemy, but he had a hunch that he needed to be kept alive. He vaguely remembered some achievements he and Erk accomplished together, then a phrase came to his head. 'One man can't do the job of two.'

He then knew where he had to go, what he had to do.

Erk stepped into a dark room, dimly lit by one fiery light. And he was greeted by the mechanical voice that hired him.

"My student, have you retrieved the target?"

"I have."

"Very good. Did you have any trouble?"

"No. The father was compliant."

"The Son of Ren will aid in our plan. Soon, we will put it in motion, and all of space and time will be in our grip."

 _ **THE END. . .**_


End file.
